A group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army appears to be taking credit for hacking The Associated Press Twitter account and sending out a fake tweet claiming President Obama was injured in an explosion.
The group claimed responsibility by tweeting the following: “Ops! @AP get owned by Syrian Electronic Army! #SEA #Syria #ByeByeObama pic.twitter.com/HTKoO6gIL6.” Being “owned” is the vernacular in the hacker world for a successful attack.
Linked to the tweet was also a photo of AP’s Twitter banner having been replaced by a Syrian Electronic Army graphic.
The Associated Press Twitter account generated some brief shock waves on Tuesday afternoon, when it sent out a tweet at 1:07 p.m. describing an explosion at the White House. “Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured.”
The Associated Press confirmed the tweet was fake and their account had been hacked.
“The tweet, which said that there had been two explosions at the White House and President Barack Obama was injured, came after hackers made repeated attempts to steal the passwords of AP journalists,” AP said in a statement.
Mark Knoller, White House Correspondent for CBS tweeted, “At WH briefing, AP’s White House Correspondent Julie Pace announces that @AP twitter account hacked and phony tweets filed. Ignore them.”
Stocks briefly dipped at news of the events. The NASDAQ dropped from 3270 to 3241, and the S&P 1577 to 1564. Trading resumed normally as soon as news of the fake emerged.
The Associated Press would not comment on extra security measures they would use on their account.
